The draw in the Ashes finale at The Oval saw England leapfrog India into second place in the International Cricket Council Test rankings as Australia dropped to fifth place - their lowest position for two years.

But, despite that miserable sequence, Australia captain Clarke sees signs his much-maligned side are on the up.

It is Australia's performances over the last three Tests, where they were only denied victory by rain in Manchester, enjoyed dominant spells in defeat at Durham and then forced the pace at The Oval, that give Clarke belief that his players are improving quickly.

And he sees no reason why Australia can't end England's run of three successive Ashes series victories in the return on home soil in November.

"I certainly think we take a lot of positives, especially from the last three Tests," Clarke said.

"We would have won in Manchester if it didn't rain. We got close in Durham after being 150-1 batting last and without rain here on Saturday it would have been a great finish to the final Test.

"I'm really pleased with the boys. There have been some special personal achievements in the series.

"Shane Watson batted well in the first innings here and Chris Rogers and Steve Smith have scored Test hundreds.

"Our bowlers fought their backsides off the whole series, especially Ryan Harris, He got our player of the series and deserved it.

"When we get a win we will run with that momentum. We need to look at the whole series and areas where we can improve, but we will take a lot of confidence from the way we played in the last three Tests."